Staff Reporter :
A bench of the High Court on Sunday rejected a writ petition, while another bench started hearing another petition challenging the legality of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. The hearing will resume today (Monday).
The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman rejected the plea filed by lawyer Younus Ali Akhand. The lawyer on August 26 sent a legal notice to the government to scrap Sections 57 and 86 of ICT Act. He filed the petition with the High Court the next day.
Younus represented himself during Sunday’s hearing while Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas argued for the state. “The government is taking measures regarding the matter. So, the court rejected the plea,” said Tapash.
Meanwhile, the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo started hearing the other petition and adjourned the hearing until Monday.
Advocate Shishir Monir, a Supreme Court lawyer, on behalf of Zakir Hossain, a resident of the Mirpur area of Dhaka, filed the petition on August 26. The petition made the secretaries to the ministries of law and ICT a party.
Shishir Monir and Barrister Emran Siddique argued for Zakir, while Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented for the state.
Amit Talukder said that time had been prayed for argument the attorney general and the court set Monday for hearing.
Shishir Monir said that the petition sought a rule as to why Section 57 would not be declared unconstitutional. Section 57 contradicts with Constitution’s Articles 27, 31, 32 and 39, he added.
During arguments, the lawyers of the petitioner told the court that Section 57 of ICT Act provides the administration ‘unfettered discretion’. “One person may be treated differently under different laws for the same offence. It is arbitrary and discriminatory,” Emran Siddique told the bench.
Petitioner Zakir Hossain is an accused of a case filed under the Section 57 of the ICT Act. His wife filed the case against him on July 24 with a cyber crime tribunal in Dhaka. Zakir in his petition also sought freeze on proceedings of the case under this section.
Barrister Emran Siddique said that the maximum punishment for the crimes to be dealt under Section 57 is 14 years jail while it is two-year imprisonment under the Penal Code and seven-year jail under the Pornography Act. Therefore, the government can pick and choose any law to try any accused, he added.
The ICT Act was passed in 2006 before being amended twice in 2009 and 2013. In the last amendment, offences under the Section 57 were made non-bailable and the maximum penalty was extended to 14-year imprisonment.
A bench of the High Court on Sunday rejected a writ petition, while another bench started hearing another petition challenging the legality of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. The hearing will resume today (Monday).
The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman rejected the plea filed by lawyer Younus Ali Akhand. The lawyer on August 26 sent a legal notice to the government to scrap Sections 57 and 86 of ICT Act. He filed the petition with the High Court the next day.
Younus represented himself during Sunday’s hearing while Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas argued for the state. “The government is taking measures regarding the matter. So, the court rejected the plea,” said Tapash.
Meanwhile, the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo started hearing the other petition and adjourned the hearing until Monday.
Advocate Shishir Monir, a Supreme Court lawyer, on behalf of Zakir Hossain, a resident of the Mirpur area of Dhaka, filed the petition on August 26. The petition made the secretaries to the ministries of law and ICT a party.
Shishir Monir and Barrister Emran Siddique argued for Zakir, while Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented for the state.
Amit Talukder said that time had been prayed for argument the attorney general and the court set Monday for hearing.
Shishir Monir said that the petition sought a rule as to why Section 57 would not be declared unconstitutional. Section 57 contradicts with Constitution’s Articles 27, 31, 32 and 39, he added.
During arguments, the lawyers of the petitioner told the court that Section 57 of ICT Act provides the administration ‘unfettered discretion’. “One person may be treated differently under different laws for the same offence. It is arbitrary and discriminatory,” Emran Siddique told the bench.
Petitioner Zakir Hossain is an accused of a case filed under the Section 57 of the ICT Act. His wife filed the case against him on July 24 with a cyber crime tribunal in Dhaka. Zakir in his petition also sought freeze on proceedings of the case under this section.
Barrister Emran Siddique said that the maximum punishment for the crimes to be dealt under Section 57 is 14 years jail while it is two-year imprisonment under the Penal Code and seven-year jail under the Pornography Act. Therefore, the government can pick and choose any law to try any accused, he added.
The ICT Act was passed in 2006 before being amended twice in 2009 and 2013. In the last amendment, offences under the Section 57 were made non-bailable and the maximum penalty was extended to 14-year imprisonment.
